The Dutch Senate had been scheduled to vote on whether to grant an exclusive online gaming license to the Holland Casino, which is owned by The Netherlands. However, the Minister of Justice, Hirsch Ballin, postponed the vote, saying that he did so because the Dutch Senate would not approve the license.

This comes as another part of the Dutch Ministry of Justice’s efforts to crack down on online gaming. Just last week, the Ministry of Justice had announced that they would begin prosecuting banks and other financial institutions that processed payments to online gambling sites. The Ministry of Justice had further announced that they would be creating a “blacklist of rogue online sites” which would determine the legality and illegality of online transactions.

The Minister of Justice had likely postponed the vote because he knew the Senate, wary of incurring the wrath of the European Union, would not approve the measure. The European Union has been cracking down on countries who were blocking competition in the online gambling sectors, and the plan to grant an exclusive online gaming license would definitely have provoked the EU to take action against the Netherlands, just as they have done against, Germany, France, and Sweden.

All of those countries tried to create domestic monoplies in the online gambling markets, but the EU has been adamant that those monopolies will not be allowed to exist, as they are clear violations of the EU Treaty that forbids prohibiting competition in the market sectors.

As it was unlikely that the Dutch Senate would pass a measure that he favored, the Minister of Justice decided his best option was to postpone the vote.